Baking Soda Beauty
No house is complete without a box of baking soda, whether it lives in the fridge or is peppered into the kitty litter box to defuse offending odors. However, this handy white stuff has more than just odor-defying abilities when it comes to the home, and it also acts kindly as an eco-friendly friend, so there will be no guilt when it makes its way down the drains.
Baking Soda is excellent for pulling away clingy dirt and grime, thus works well in laundry as both a cleaning agent as a softener as well. It makes for a good tooth paste; sprinkled on a damp cloth for the polishing of counter tops; a quarter of a cup put down the drain weekly can help to unclogging drains as well as prevent build up; can be used for smothering the scent of cigarette smoke emitted from an ash tray simply by sprinkling a bit in the bottom of the tray; is powerful enough to remove grease from pans, stove tops and if you're very lucky clothing as well (try it with some lavender too!).
Baking Soda - or Sodium Bicarbonate is a salt with the chemical formula NaHCO3. It is found in many natural mineral springs and in its purest form is nahcolite. It is mostly known for, as mentioned before, smothering odors as well as fires, the reason for the latter being that when heat is applied to it, it releases carbon dioxide.
Coupled with vinegar and lemon in the washing machine your clothes will return to you soft, clean and with a fresh summery citrus scent. This scent can be spread throughout the kitchen, living room and bathroom when you use the team as a cleaning solution, keeping in mind that vinegar can disinfect alongside with the citrus of the lemon, grapefruit, or orange. This trio can also be used in a carpet shampooer as well, filling the shampoo compartment with vinegar while adding a cup or so of baking soda to the water compartment. And don’t forget a squeeze or two of your citrusy scent in either compartment to spread the freshness as well. Or if only the baking soda is available to you, simply sprinkling it along the carpet and allowing it rest time before vacuuming it up will aid in the removal of stuck stenches.
Adding combining this trio in a multi spray bottle team also works well. A starting line of fire of vinegar in the toilet bowl, swilled around for a moment before a spray of baking soda water will de-crust any malicious stains seeking a porcelain home. Similar action can be taken to the bathtub, sink, counter tops and so on, the lemon, grape fruit or orange adding a disinfecting benefit to the already hard working vinegar.
In the kitchen, baking soda has it’s common and already stated uses of odor removal, the grease sopping and scrubbing of pans, stove tops or the innards of ovens, and silver polishing (by dissolving equal parts water and baking soda and allowing silverware to soak). It can be used as a stain remover with its friend Something-Citrus by squeezing whatever citrus fruit you chose over the stain, allowing to sit for about three quarters of an hour before sprinkling a little baking soda over top then wiping away. Another useful kitchen hint along the lines of pests - or cockroaches to be more specific – is to mix equal parts powdered sugar with baking soda and spread around suspected areas.
Something to keep in mind as well about our friend Baking Soda is that while it is an excellent cleaning agent, it is recommended that one does not use it on aluminum, as it will hinder the oxide layer of the metal which protects all that interacts with it from its normally reactive nature.
Happy cleaning and stay fresh!
Further Information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_bicarbonate#Miscellaneous
For more detailed recipes be sure to check out these excellent sites!
http://thenewhomemaker.com/bakingsoda
http://www.natural-healthy-home-cleaning-tips.com/vinegar_baking_soda_cleaning_recipes.htm
http://www.landofvos.com/articles/clean.html